


Neither Created nor Destroyed

by TheArtisticIntrovert



Category: Higurashi no Naku Koro ni | Higurashi When They Cry
Genre: AU of Tatarigoroshi-hen, the law of conservation of mass still works dammit
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-23
Updated: 2016-11-23
Packaged: 2018-09-01 19:46:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,554
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8635810
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheArtisticIntrovert/pseuds/TheArtisticIntrovert
Summary: Even in a world where magic exists, god-demons kill people at the wish of a teenager, and memories can be reset like a harddrive, the laws of science still exist. By all accounts, the body shouldn't have vanished.So it didn't.





	

**Author's Note:**

> it always pisses me off when the magic in this show totally ignores science. no wonder the working title for this one was "what if the body behaved like a corpse is supposed to and stayed fucking put"
> 
> basically i really hate the magic mumbo-jumbo bullshit because even if time was reset or some shit like that it shouldn't be set to after the festival. because then everything that already happened would've still happened.
> 
> fucking fight me i know my science.

“Good evening.” Keiichi stiffened, the tip of his shovel freezing over the loosely packed dirt of the hole. He knew he hadn’t dug far enough to find the corpse, not yet. But still, he knew that digging a hole, at night, in the forest,  _ in the rain _ would definitely raise some questions. He just hadn’t expected the questions to be raised by Ooishi.

 

“Ooishi…” he spat, already planning an escape. Even if they found the body, he wanted at least a few more minutes of freedom. Ooishi chuckled in that weirdly condescending way of his, glare tempered by a smirk.

 

“I believe it’s appropriate to add a ‘-san’ when referring to your elders, Maebara- _ kun.”  _ Keiichi growled, hoisting himself out of the hole. He barely made it three steps before another adult he hadn’t seen appeared and tossed him back in. “Now, now, where are you going? You came out here to dig, so dig! Just think of us as a few more trees, alright?”

 

Keiichi growled again, wiping the water out of his eyes and hunting around for the shovel. “Bastard…”

 

“I’d ask you to hurry though, kiddo. Please be considerate to those who have to wait in the rain.” That’s it. He’s fucking  _ dead.  _ Keiichi swiveled around to face him, shovel forgotten.

 

“If you hate it so much, get outta the rain and go pester someone else!” he snapped, gagging when muddy water hit him in the face not two seconds later.

 

“You really need to work on your manners. Quit running your trap and start moving your muscles, Maebara.” Keiichi glared at him, but wisely decided to keep his mouth shut. He picked up the shovel, continuing to dig. It was slow going, now that he knew he was being watched. Part of him actually  _ wanted  _ the corpse to be gone, if only so he could avoid punishment.

 

Unfortunately for Keiichi, even in this messed-up world, the law of conservation of mass still existed, still worked, deaf to the pleas of one teenage boy in over his head.

 

Ooishi whistled lowly, raising an eyebrow. “Well shit, forget the cadaver dogs. Just get Mr. Maebara Keiichi out here to find a body.” Keiichi stared at the corpse, the final nail in his coffin. The proof he’d been searching for.

 

He wasn’t crazy. The bastard was actually dead. He panted heavily, half from exertion and half from adrenaline. The shovel, slick with rain and sweat, slipped out of his trembling fingers to rest on the muddy ground next to the bloody, beaten, and bruised form of Satoko’s uncle.

 

“Say, Maebara… How’d you know where to dig to find the body in the first place? And why in the middle of the night, during a rainstorm? Surely there’s a better time to indulge in your little hobby.” Keiichi blinked, startled by Ooishi’s voice.

 

“Hobby? Who the hell has a hobby like this?” he asked absently, still staring at the body. He could feel his palms stinging with the phantom force of the bat, the itchy sensation causing him to clench his fists to try and get rid of it.

 

“Hm. Well, I suppose there’s nothing to be done for it. Take him in, boys.” The other two adults slid down into the hole, one pulling a pair of shiny handcuffs from who-knows-where. He grabbed Keiichi’s arm, the motion once again startling him. Ooishi chuckled at his struggling, shoving his free hand into his pocket. “Maebara Keiichi, you’re under arrest. If you don’t want to be hurt, I suggest you stop struggling.”

 

“Asshole! I hope you die! I hope Oyashiro-sama’s curse takes you just like it took Takano-san!” Keiichi snarled, his eyes wild and crazed. The cuffs cinched tightly around his wrists, and the other two cops dragged him out of the hole as he continued to spit insults.

 

Ooishi walked over to him calmly, hands shoved casually in his pockets. For literally five seconds, until he backhanded Keiichi harshly. “What did I tell you about manners, boy?” he asked pleasantly, though there was an edge of steel beneath his kind tone. Keiichi growled, heaving for breath. His cheek stung, like his arm did that time he’d accidentally leaned on a hot stovetop.

 

Thoughts of the stove brought back memories of when Satoko and Rika saved him from burning his house down. He’d never felt so much like he’d had a family than in that moment. His eyes burned with tears as the two officers holding him shoved him into the back of the police car.  _ ‘Satoko… Are you doing okay, I wonder…? Don’t worry, Nii-nii will get out of this. ….Somehow.’ _

 

\--

 

When they arrived at the station, it was pushing three in the morning. Keiichi felt like he’d been hit by a bus, but Ooishi refused to allow him to rest. He said that someone would be here soon, and that Keiichi needed to stay awake for it. Privately, Keiichi thought Ooishi just liked seeing him suffer, the sick bastard.

 

When the door opened again, it admitted the last person he wanted to see right then. That traitor doctor Irie. Keiichi growled again, yanking at the handcuffs.

 

“Why the hell is  _ he  _ here?!” he snarled, glaring daggers at Irie. Ooishi just chuckled.

 

“In my unprofessional opinion, Maebara-san, you don’t exactly seem  _ stable _ right now. I feel that Dr. Irie would agree with me, isn’t that right Doctor?” Irie looked away, fiddling with his clipboard.

 

“Yeah, Dr. Irie. You think I have some  _ mental disorder,  _ right? Still wanna drug and restrain me?” Keiichi snarled, clenching his fists. Irie flinched like Keiichi had struck him, a strange expression stealing over his face.

 

“You…You were listening?” he asked. He sounded exhausted, like he hadn’t slept in days. A twinge of guilt flared up in Keiichi’s chest before he ruthlessly squashed it. Irie didn’t deserve his pity.

 

He nodded instead, still eying Irie distrustfully. “Yeah, heard everything after you told the other guy to put drugs in my tea and mask it. I  _ trusted you,  _ and you just threw it away!” he snarled, masking the pain with anger.

 

“What was I supposed to do?! You were hysterical, Maebara-san! I was afraid you’d hurt someone!”  _ Afraid you’d hurt  _ **_me!_ ** Keiichi recoiled, gritting his teeth and glaring at Irie.

 

“You’re a little late for that! Don’t you remember what I told you?! Or did you just dismiss it as the delusional ravings of a madman?!” he snarled, tugging at his chains again as he tried to break loose from his chair. “Let me go! I’ll show  _ you  _ a madman!” he screamed, pulling so hard that a thin line of blood encircled each wrist where the sharp metal of the handcuffs dug into his skin.

 

“Maebara-san. That’s enough.” Keiichi turned his glare on Ooishi, who he’d actually forgotten was in the room. “You’re injuring yourself again. If you don’t calm down, I may have to forcefully sedate you. Are we clear?” Keiichi sneered at him, but acquiesced anyway.

 

_ ‘Mom… Dad… Everyone… I’m so sorry. I never meant for this to happen.’ _

 

“Just tell me one thing, Dr. Irie. That is, if you finally have an answer.” He looked up through his bangs at Irie, eyes exhausted and dull. “Why did everyone think I was at the festival, when I wasn’t?” Irie sent a nervous glance to Ooishi, scribbling something else down on his clipboard before standing.

 

“I want to leave. Ooishi-san, is that alright?” Ooishi nodded, opening the door for Irie. He left, shoulders tense and trembling.

 

“Tch. Pathetic… No wonder he couldn’t save Satoko himself…” Ooishi raised an eyebrow, returning to the back of the room.

 

“Satoko? As in Houjo Satoko, the deceased's niece?” Ooishi asked. Keiichi stiffened.

 

_ ‘I said too much…’  _ He tried to turn his sneer on Ooishi, but it fell flat, too interwoven with terror to be truly effective. “She has nothing to do with this,” he said, trying to keep his voice from trembling. Once again, he bristled as Ooishi chuckled.

 

“On the contrary. I think she has  _ everything  _ to do with this, Maebara-san.” A cold sweat broke out on Keiichi’s temples, despite the chill of the interrogation room. He grit his teeth, trying to calm his racing heart.

 

“She doesn’t! Leave Satoko out of this!” he snapped, trying once more to release himself from the handcuffs. That damn detective wouldn’t get anywhere  _ near  _ Satoko, not if he could help it. He remembered him asking for her at school, looking for all the world like some kinda sleazeball who liked looking at little girls. “Dammit, Ooishi, I’m not letting you get anywhere near her!” he growled, eyes wild once more. His pupils contracted to tiny dots, eyes wide and angry.

 

“Calm down, Maebara-san! I promise,  _ I  _ won’t get close to Houjo-san.” Keiichi nodded, feeling like a doll that just had its strings cut. At least, until he registered what Ooishi had said.

 

“No, wait! Nobody! None of you gets near her, got it?!” he snapped, only moments too late. Ooishi chuckled, having the gall to look  _ embarrassed,  _ of all things.

 

“Sorry, Maebara-san. Afraid you’re too late. I’ve already sent an officer out to bring her in,” he said, scratching the back of his head. Keiichi let out a wordless scream, tugging at the cuffs again. The cuts around his wrists deepened as the metal gouged into his skin, blood staining the plastic chair.

 

_ “BASTARD!  _ I’ll kill you! I told you to leave Satoko alone!” he screamed, giving up on trying to break loose. Instead, he stood up and leapt across the room towards Ooishi, chair and all. He slammed his shoulder into Ooishi’s chest, causing him to stumble back against the wall. Ooishi pushed him back, causing Keiichi to lose his balance and sit down hard in the chair still attached to him. He panted harshly, starting to get lightheaded from blood loss.

 

Ooishi kept an eye on him while he touched his ear and said something too quiet for Keiichi to hear over the pounding of his heart. Not even two minutes later, a man in a white lab coat walked in with a needle, capped in rubber and filled with an unknown drug.

 

_ [“It’s time for your punishment game Kei-chaaaan! Hold still okay?” NonoNONONONONO GET AWAY FROM ME!] _

 

He cringed back in the chair, kicking out with his feet when the man got too close. “Stay the  _ fuck  _ away from me!” he snarled, baring his teeth like a rabid dog. Ooishi swung his chair around, pinning his legs against the wall and nodding to the man. He uncapped the needle, carefully inserting it into Keiichi’s neck and pressing down on the plunger.

 

Almost immediately, Keiichi’s eyelids started to droop.

 

\--

 

He woke up in a hospital bed, only able to move his head. Straps were cinched tightly around his wrists, ankles, legs, and chest, keeping him pinned flat to the bed. He blinked, mildly disoriented. “.......not sure what to diagnose him with. He’s aggressive and confrontational, with random mood swings. In addition, he seems convinced that Oyashiro-sama’s curse is real, at least according to Ooishi-san. However, he doesn’t seem to fit the diagnosis for most psychotic and schizoid disorders.” The static in Keiichi’s head dimmed a bit, his vision clearing.

 

“So some sort of delusional disorder then? At least for now, until we can gather more information.” He turned his head towards the voices, managing to make out an unfamiliar doctor and Irie, talking in the corner of his room. He lay there in a daze, at least until what the second doctor had said managed to penetrate the drug-induced fog around his brain.

 

_ ‘Delusional disorder?! I’m not crazy!’  _ He glared at them, only able to manage a low growl before his limited energy ran out. The new doctor stiffened, glancing over to him.

 

“I’ll take over his case, Dr. Irie. You look exhausted, go get some rest.” Irie nodded, leaving the room just as the other doctor crossed it to stand at Keiichi’s bedside. “Good morning, Maebara-kun. I’m Dr. Akiyama, I’ll be taking care of you while you’re here,” he said pleasantly, like he  _ hadn’t  _ just been speculating on Keiichi’s mental health.

 

Keiichi sneered. “Yeah, the pleasure’s all yours,” he slurred, glaring up at the doctor. Akiyama sighed, scribbling something down on his clipboard. “What was that? What’re you writing?!” he snapped, anger and adrenaline burning the last dregs of sedative out of his system. He tugged at the straps encircling his wrists, hissing in pain when the rough material irritated his sore cuts. Cuts he just realized had bandages wrapped tightly around them.

 

“Nothing important, Maebara-kun. Now, why don’t you tell me why you’re here?” he said, smiling cheerily. Keiichi bared his teeth at him, turning his head away.

 

“Dunno,  _ you’re  _ the doctor here. Why don’t you tell  _ me  _ why I’m here?” he muttered petulantly, glaring at the far wall. It wasn’t very interesting, just a weird greenish-brown wallpaper adorned with blue spirals. Kinda ugly, to be honest.

 

“I could tell you why I  _ think  _ you’re here, if that’s alright. Nobody but you knows the truth, after all.” Keiichi just shrugged as best as he was able, hunching down into the blankets. “I’ll walk you through the events as I understand them, then. Earlier tonight, at around 2:30 this morning, you were found by Ooishi-san and two other police officers. They discovered you digging a hole in the road leading to the police station in a neighboring town. After about another ten minutes of digging, you uncovered a corpse. Accurate so far?” Keiichi shrugged again, nodding reluctantly.

 

“Alright. After the body was uncovered, you were arrested under suspicion of murdering Houjo Teppei. According to Ooishi-san and the other officers, you threatened Ooishi-san. Specifically, and I quote, you said ‘I hope Oyashiro-sama’s curse takes you just like it took Takano-san!’.” He rustled a few papers on his clipboard, clicking his pen absently.   
  
“Maebara-kun...You know Oyashiro-sama isn’t real....right?” Keiichi scoffed, burrowing further into the mattress.

 

“Yeah, I know that. But...even if he’s not real..........I think his curse  _ is.”  _ He looked up at Akiyama with pleading eyes, a small, terrified smile on his face. “I wished for Houjo to die, and he did. I wished for Takano-san to die, and she  _ did. _ If that’s not a curse, what is?!” he said, tears beading in his eyes as his smile grew wider. Small tremors shook his body, and whether they were sobs or laughter neither of them knew. “Satoko is  _ safe  _ now! You gotta let me go, I need to tell her! I need to make sure she’s still safe, that something didn’t happen overnight.  Please, Dr. Akiyama! She needs me...”

 

Akiyama sighed, writing something else down on his clipboard. “I’m afraid that’s impossible, Maebara-kun.” He stood up, shooting Keiichi another smile before it fell. “I have to thank you, though. You gave me some very useful information.” He turned to leave, one hand already on the doorknob by time Keiichi gathered himself enough to call out.

 

“Wait!” Akiyama turned, quirking an eyebrow. “Please, please, can you tell Satoko that everything’s okay now? She needs to know!” Akiyama turned away again, nodding ever so slightly.

 

It was enough. Keiichi dropped his head back to the pillow and sighed. 

 

_ ‘I’m sorry, everyone. Looks like I’ll be late to school today after all...’ _


End file.
